Frank Harris has appeared in a number of guises in literature and drama, some of which you will find listed on this page. (See also: adaptations of Harris' works).
Portrayals in fiction
- Hardfur Huttle in The Diary of a Nobody, by George and Weedon Grossmith. The chapter of this classic comic novel in which Huttle appears describes a dinner party where Huttle, an American, monopolises the conversation and unwittingly insults his fellow guests. Huttle's enthusiasms and manner are very Harrisian in style.
- John Johns in The Adventures of John Johns, by Frederic Carrel, 1897. This roman à clef was very popular at the time. A lightly-disguised portrait of Harris which shows him as a scheming social climber. Read a longer review. Read an extract from this book.
- George Everard in The Simple Life Limited, by Daniel Chaucer (Ford Madox Ford), 1911 - Thomas C. Moser suggests that Everard owes his physical character to Harris.
- Ralph Parker in The Will To Love, by Hugh (Kingsmill) Lunn, 1913
- Jack Fordham in The Diary of a Drug Fiend, by Aleister Crowley, 1923.
- An unconvincing Frank Harris appears in The West End Horror by Nicholas Meyer, 1976.
- Frank Harris appears in The God of Mirrors by Robert Reilly, 1986.
- Frank Harris appears in Manly Pursuits by Ann Harries, 1999.
Dramatic portrayals
- Flesh, Flash and Frank Harris by Paul Stephen Lim.
- Fearless Frank by Andrew Davies and Dave Brown. Produced in 1979 at the King's Head Theatre, London, and on Broadway at the Princess Theatre for just a week in June 1980. Also a BBC television production starring Leonard Rossiter.
- Frank appears as a character in Gross Indecency, a play by Moises Kaufman about Oscar Wilde's trials
- He also appears in Tom Stoppard's The Invention of Love.
- Frank appears in one scene in To Meet Oscar Wilde, by Norman Holland.
- The play Oscar Wilde by Leslie and Sewell Stokes includes Frank Harris as a character.
- The Bashful Genius, based on the early career of George Bernard Shaw, features Frank Harris as a character. When it was performed in 1964 at the Nottingham Playhouse, Bill Maynard played Harris and John Neville played Shaw.
- A Wilde Evening by Wayne Turney depicts an improbable party thrown by Oscar Wilde. Amongst the guests are Frank and Nellie Harris.
Portrayals in Poetry
- Eve by Ralph Hodgson was, according to Enid Bagnold's Autobiography (she calls the poem 'Deep in the bells and grass'), written about her affair with Frank Harris.
- Harris is mentioned in Café Royale, Carole Ann Duffy's poem which refers to the famous meeting when Harris and Shaw warned Wilde not to sue Queensberry for libel.
Cinematic portrayals
- Jack Lemmon played 'Frank Harris' in Cowboy, based on My Reminiscences as a Cowboy (1958).
- Paul Rogers played Frank in The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960).
- Apparently, one of the characters in Disney's The Great Mouse Detective was based in part on Frank Harris.
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